Railway superstructure



Nw. 11, i924. 1.515,3@

l R. SCHEIBE RAILWAY SUPERSTRUCTURE Filed May 12, 1923 INUENTGRZ RICHARDSCHEBE, 0F KLOTZSCHE, GERMANY.

RAILWAY SUPERSTRUCTURE.

Application inea May 12, 1923. serial no. 638,496.

To all zo/tom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD Sorteren, a citizen of the Free State ofSaxony, residing at Klotzsche, Saxony, Republic of Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Superstructures,of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to railway roadbeds and has for its principalobject to provide a new and improved construction of a tie or sleeper bythe use of which the rapid deterioration of the roadbed experienced withthe types of sleepers now generally employed is substantially overcomeand consequently a large proportion of the burdensome roadwaymaintainance costs are therefore saved.

In order to accomplish this very desirable object, I provide a sleeperhaving a cross sectional profile such that the sleeper under theinfluence of the external forces applied to it is enabled to yieldelastically andv alter its form which alterations in the profile of thesleeper are transmitted, along lines normal to the various points of theprofile, to the supporting roadbed or ballast in such a way as todistribute or disperse the shocks or forces over a wide supporting area,close to the rails, thus avoiding the objectionable localization of theforces communicated to the supporting roadbed along restricted areaswhich with the ties or sleepers in common use are substantially equal toor but slightly greater than the horizontal cross sectional area of thetie or sleeper itself. This localization of the forces adjacent eachsleeper obviously causes inequalities and bends in the rails accordingto the differences in the nature and composition of the supportingsubsoil.

Considered therefore, in its more specific aspects, the object of thisinvention is to provide a tie or sleeper having such a conl structionthat it will be permitted to yield and so alter its shape momentarilythat the shocks or forces to which the rails are subjected will bedispersed or distributed over a continuous supporting area at a very lowdepth from the rail.

Another object is to provide a means for attaching the rail to thesleeper so that a substantially rigid and permanent connection isafforded whereby all the forces exerted by the rail whatever theirdirection are transmitted by the rail undiminished and wit-h fullstrength to the sleeper to be absorbed thereby.

`While I amV aware that many types of sleepers having elastic propertieshave been proposed, attention is called to the fact that mere elasticityof the sleeper is not sufficient to accomplish the desirable result ofdistributing or dispersing the shocks, but that in addition to theelasticity the sleeper must possess certain other attributesparticularly as to the shape of the surfaces upon which it rests uponthe earth works.

A further object of this invention is therefore, to provide a sleeperhaving a proper shape of supporting surfaces and which. is also ofhollow construction thereby permitting it to be manufactured at acomparatively low cost while at the same time permitting the interior ofthe sleeper to be filled with suitable ballast to attain a high momentof inertia.

For the accomplishment of these and such further objects as willhereinafter be apparent to those skilled in the art to which thisappertains, the invention consists in the construction, combination andarrangement of parts herein specically described and ili lustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein is shown a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations andmodifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of theclaims hereunto appended.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification Fig. 'l shows anenlarged cross section or proiile of the sleeper.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the shocks andforces vreceived by the rail are transmitted through the sleepers anddistributed thereby over a continuous supporting area.

Fig. 3 is a partial top view of the sleeper. As shown in Fig. l of thedrawing, a prefered form of a sleeper embodying my invention comprisesthe plane upper middle part 10, on which the foot or base of the rail l1rests.

The plane middle part l0 of the sleeper merges into the side walls 13which are of substantially cylindrical shape and extend a distanceapproximately equal toI or slightly less than 65 of a circle startingfrom the point where the plane upper wall terminates. At their lowerextremities the cylindrical side walls 13 merge into plane secwvorksbetween adjacent sleepers,

and what is more essential that no unstresset portions or intervals willbe 'leftin the earth According` to the well known principle ofengineering. it will be obvious that the forces which will betransmitted by a sleeper having the elastic properties as herein closed,will be normal to the cnrvative thereof at any particular point. lt willtherefore be seen that theoretically the downwarc forces transmitted tothe earth works by a sleeper constructed as shown in l and 2 would beginjust below the dot and dash line` A-B (Fig. l) and as indicated by thelines C in Fig. 2. Practically, however, the theoretical reactionstransmitted by the sleeper between the lines C and l). Fig. 2, may bedisregarded as they would have but little or no deteriorating effectupon the earthworks because of the slight degree of the deformations ofthe sleeper between these lines. Considering therefore those portions ofthe sleeper whose deformations are the greater and by which 'practicallythe full strength of the forces 'to which the sleeper is subjected aretransmitted to the earth works, it will be obvious that these forces aretransmitted by those portions oitl the sleeper situated between thelines D and E in Fig. 2. lNith the sleepers spaced as indicateddiagrammatically in this figure it will be seen that the lines Dintersect at the point F on the line G H so that therefore a continuoussupporting area for the rails is formed along this line G il which itwill be noted is located quite close to the rails and that there are nounstressed portions along this area between the sleepers.

lt will be noted that the gap l5 between the edges of the inclinedportions lllis very small so as to leave no unstressed portion upon theearth works and also to prevent the ballast from forcingl its wayupwardly into the interior of the sleepen aiil tbrs cause the interiorof thel sleeper to be filled up to such an extent that the under face ofthe top plane portion l0 would rest directly upon the ballast. and thusnot only prevent the yielding effect of the sleeper, but by producing apressure against the interior of the sleeper cause the gap l5 to beincreased.

rlhe sleeper is preferably provided as shown in Fig. 3 upon its upperportion l() with one or more elongated slots 16 adjacent the point wherethe rails are to rest and it desired this portion of the sleeper may bemade of somewhat thicker construction than the other portions thereof7in order to conipensate for the weakening of the struetnril due to thepresence of the slots 16.

After the sleepers have been placed ,in position and the rails attachedthereto, l' allast or soil is inserted into the iii,iei.1`. n',-.I ofthe sleeper from the ends thereof, it being understood that a space islett between he top portion l0 of the sleeper and the filling materialprevent a direct reaction between this top portion and the iilling whichas heretofore set forth would entirely' de'- stroy the eli' itic effectof the sleeper. il, een e interiors of the sleepers are filled asdescribed, it will be obvious that a considerable weight is representedby each sleeper which is of great value in securing a substantialconstruction.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure by lietters Patent of the United States7 is L. ln asuperstructure for railways7 a sleeper having a cross sectional profileconsisting` of a plane upper section to which the rail is attached. saidupper section merginto arcuate side wall sections and said arcuate sidewall sections merging into lower plane sections extending tangentiallytroni the lower ends of said sidewall sections and sloping downwardly9said lower plane sections having their outer ends free and terminatingadiacent each other substantially t the central line of said sleepersaid sleeper being supported by the ballast of the roadway entirely bysaid side wall and lower plane sections whereby said sleeper may yieldelastically under the influence of downward forces and said forces willbe transmitted and distributed by the elastic deformations of the lowerportions of said arcuate side wall sections and inclined lower planesections over a continuous supporting area situated a short distancebelow the rail.

2. A, superstructure for railways `as set forth in claim l. in whichsaid side wall sections consist of an arc of a circle of less than 180Oin length and said lower plane sections are inclined downwardly from thetermination of said side wall sections substantialli7 at an inclinationof 1:4 to the horizontal.

3. A superstructure as set forth in claim l in which means are providedto clamp the rail to said sleeper, said sleeper and means being providedwith interengaging portions, whereby lateral shocks upon the rail aretransmitted undirninished in strength to said sleeper.

ln testimony whereof l have ailixed my signature.

RlCHAltD SCl-lEllBli.

tiff;

